First and second trimester evaluation of risk for fetal aneuploidy: the secondary outcomes of the FASTER Trial.

The FASTER Trial was a multicenter National Institute of Child Health and Human Development sponsored study of Down syndrome screening in a large unselected obstetric population using first and second trimester maternal serum markers and first trimester nuchal translucency sonography. The following paper will describe the FASTER Trial. It will review the outcomes of pregnancies complicated by cystic hygroma and the FASTER Trial's findings regarding first trimester nasal bone ultrasonography and screening for aneuploidy. Although the study's first and foremost goal was to compare various first and second trimester methods of screening for Down syndrome, the FASTER Trial has revealed a wealth of information not only on screening for aneuploidy but also on other obstetric issues.